In software programming, during the creation of an executable version of software it is normal practice to combine a plurality of files (run units) into a single larger executable file, for example when two or more object files are combined into a dynamic link library in a Microsoft™ Windows™ programming environment, or two or more class files are combined into a single jar file in the Java™ programming environment. Such a combination process is often known as link-editing (or deployment in the Java case). (Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both).
When an executable file is created in this way it can be a requirement for two or more of the run units and the executable file to contain one or more data entities with a specific value. For example, in software organisations, whilst there is not a legal requirement, there is often an internal requirement that each run unit and executable file contain a readable copyright notice. This gives a fair notice to potential copyright infringers and can make copyright easier to enforce.
According to the prior art a data entity with such a specific value can be included in each run unit, for example, by including a static string set to a required value such as “Copyright IBM™ Corp. 2003”. The static string then persists during the combination process and is therefore also present in the executable file. However, as a result of this process, whilst the internal requirement of the software organisation is met, if, for example, the executable file is created by combining 10 run units each containing such a static string, the executable file will contain 10 occurrences the static string, one for each run unit. This serves to increase the storage requirements of the executable file and whilst this adequately addresses the internal requirement in environments in which storage is not constrained and performance is not an issue, in other environments it can result in degraded performance, especially when a complex product can comprise many hundreds of run units. Such constrained environments occur, for example, in hand-held portable devices such as those providing mobile telephony (a celluar telephone) or handheld computers such as like personal organisers. (IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. in the United States, other countries, or both).